Sage Naruto
by SuperNeos2
Summary: An unexpected turn of events brings Naruto to Jiraiya at the age of ten. Jiraiya decides to teach him the art of Senjutsu to prepare him for his future battles against Akatsuki. See how this Naruto takes the Shinobi World by storm. And who is this friend only he can see? Senjutsu!Naruto. Eventual NaruSaku


Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

AN:** New Naruto story in the works, one that I've had planned for awhile but never really decided to act on. But after watching some old episodes of the anime, I decided to start writing it. I hope to keep this going, but I'll see what you guys think before I continue this. This is actually two old ideas I had that I decided to mix into one. Why? The answer being 'why not'? I'll reveal them at the end of the chapter.**

**I always wondered how things could be different for Naruto if he would've had a 'friend' growing up. I've seen fics where it's Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Kakashi, etc. But the person I've chosen isn't either of these guys. You'll see throughout the chapter who it is.**

**Chapters will be longer, but this is just an introduction chapter to show you what's going on so it'll be a little shorter than others. **

**Enjoy**

Chapter 1-

_The scream came back again._

_Naruto surveyed the area around him, holding a hand to his mouth to keep the smoke from entering his lungs. He saw the doorway to the floor he was about to enter was covered in flames, sealing any and all ideas he had to go that way. He almost started second-guessing himself on what he was doing, having foolishly run in here to play hero even after the ANBU told him to not intervene. Naruto, being the excellent listener that he was, had taken off without a care into the building after hearing the scream the first time,. Hearing it the second time reinstated his reasons and courage to do what he came in here to do._

_He cursed as he turned and looked around for another way to the upper floors of the apartment building he had run into without a second thought. The fires of the building were spreading at an incredibly fast pace, almost trapping him in a ring of flames. The floorboards he was standing on were close to giving way, Naruto able to feel the pieces of wood about to give way with the combined work of the flames and his weight. He could easily jump out a window that wasn't on fire and save his life, but he wouldn't. He gave himself a job and he was gonna see it through to the very end, regardless if he got a little burned up in the process. He's healed from worse._

_Naruto was thrown back as a part of the building he was in blew up in a small explosion. It wasn't enough to bring the whole building crashing down; not yet at least. Naruto took this as a sign that he didn't have much time left before he was completely screwed. He moved his hand away from his mouth as he looked around the burning hallway, looking for another way to get up to the upper levels in which he heard the screams coming from. The worst part was that he didn't know which floor the screams were coming from, so he was forced to search every room on every floor he's been on for the trapped soul. The only bright side was that there were only four floors left and every floor had around four rooms on them. Sixteen rooms at most were left._

_Naruto could probably hop on over the burning steps, but then he'll probably bang his head on the stairway that had flames covering it like some kind of barbeque and set his hair on fire. The last thing Naruto wanted to do was set his hair on fire. He would've covered his hair if he wasn't covering his mouth to keep the smoke out. Before he could look again, a powerful shake threw him to the ground; hitting his head on the floorboard beneath him, increasing the temperature in his brain to a hot degree. Naruto was sure he could feel his brain starting to cook._

_A hole in the ceiling was revealed to him, a somewhat safe passage up to the next floor being given to him by the flames._

_Naruto heard the scream again. _

...

It was another day in Konoha. The birds were chirping, the trees were rustling in the wind, and the residents of the village were starting to close up shop. Ninja completed their missions and the kids were on their way home to go back to their parents for dinner. Well... not all kids.

Naruto Uzumaki had another average day. Well, average for him. He got the same amount of glares that he usually did from the same people, he stayed at the playground observing the other kids playing with each other; learning awhile ago to not intervene with the activities of the kids after he got yelled at by the parents to leave their kids alone, and he had his ten bowls of ramen for the day. Now that that was all said and done, he had to find someway to occupy the rest of his day. He didn't want to go home just yet, not when there wasn't anyone there waiting for him. He figured he occupy his mind until he had no choice but to go back to his lonely apartment. The only question he had was how?

Naruto had his hands in his pockets as he casually walked through the village, not really in a rush to go anywhere of interest. The sun was starting to set, casting a glow in the water by the dock he was walking above. His lips were firmed into a line as he kept walking, enjoying the wind blowing through his face; it being the only good feeling that he felt in the past few weeks. He found himself moving his hands out of his pocket and over the base of his arms, rubbing them affectionately as he thought about the events of the last few weeks. He shook them from his head as he resumed his original position, his eyes focused on the dirt path ahead of him.

His orange T-shirt was darkened at the center with a small tear down the left sleeve. His blue shorts were also darkened above his right knee, another small tear down the left side. Naruto shook his head slowly as memories of what happened that caused his clothes to be like this surfaced through his head. He took a deep breath as he calmed down to avoid getting worked up over it. He should've known that nothing would change if he did what he did. But, his need to play hero got in the way and he risked and almost lost his life. For what? Apparently for nothing since he was still the same 'ol Naruto to everyone in the village. He shook his head on that. It wasn't really for nothing. He did get something out of the whole deal. Something he was convinced that he would never get.

Naruto looked around but couldn't see him. He was usually always right there with him, ready to say something to him whether it be stupid or something that made him sound like a smartass, he was always there. He's been there for weeks now, always by Naruto's side when something was happening. He gave him warnings when someone was about to throw something at him, he pointed out things that Naruto might've not been able to see on his own, and he was able to tell Naruto things that he missed when in class, which was Naruto's personal favorite, although he had to pester him to get the information that he wanted. Either way, Naruto was starting to learn to appreciate his presence. The only thing that sucked besides him being a smartass was that he was hard to find. Naruto took a quick glance around, looking again for any signs of him; his, dare he say, friend.

Naruto had been able to deal with shit easier with his presence around. The other day when Sasuke and him were pitted into a spar for a practice match at the academy, the teme was able to get behind him and was about to hit him in the back of the head. Before he could, his friend was there and was able to warn him on where he was before he could hit him, dodging with a grin plastered on his face. After that though, he still lost the fight when Sasuke was able to pin him down on the ground and put him in a Full Nelson. His friend laughed at him, calling him a bitch, which earned him a middle finger in his direction. Naruto saw how people were looking at him confused when he did that, which made him realize that his friend wasn't there anymore. That was another thing about his friend. He disappeared a lot when Naruto tried to show him to others.

The villagers' taunts and actions were also easier to handle. Now that he had a friend, he was able to let out the confined emotions that he felt inside. He no longer had to hold them in and glare back at the villagers. He could just shrug them off and talk to his friend about them later, which was a lot easier for him to handle than holding it all in. The insults that pertained to him being a lonely freak didn't faze him anymore because he finally had someone he could talk to, even if that friend didn't seem to like to come out when there were people around. Naruto first thought he was embarrassed by him, but was later told that he didn't give a shit about what these villagers thought and that he is there, but Naruto just didn't notice him standing next to him. Naruto scoffed, but believed him since he really did have that 'I don't give a shit' attitude. Naruto looked for him again, his eyes darting between the area to look for his figure.

And there he was; leaning against the base of a tree just a few inches away from him. His arms were folded against his chest as he stared at Naruto, his dark eyes focused on his movements as Naruto got closer to him. Naruto let a small smile graze his lips as he saw him. The boy against the base of the tree wore a dark black T-shirt with red shorts to boot. His hair was eerily similar to Naruto's, the same shade of blonde as the boy walking towards him. He adjusted his head so he stared down at the water, masking in the glow that bounced off the water.

"Hey," Naruto greeted him, getting the boy in front of him to look back at him, his dark red eyes boring into Naruto's as they stared at each other. "Haven't seen you today since we stink-bombed the clothing store." Naruto laughed at the memory of the little prank, remembering how badly the manager started yelling that all of his clothes were ruined and that he'll have to restock his inventory. Naruto and his friend here laughed as they watched the man run around and pull at his hair in frustration over losing his stock. It was worth it after not allowing Naruto in.

His friend that moved his hands to his side and shrugged, "Been busy. Had to check in with someone about something." He put the smirk on his face that Naruto noticed that he had on a lot of the time he's known him. "Either way, yeah; that shit was funny. He deserved that after the way he talked to you. Maybe we could've took a shit and put it in a bag and light in on fire as insult to injury?"

Naruto chuckled, shaking his head from side to side at his friend's proclamation. That was a brilliant idea for a prank, but Naruto felt the stink bomb was enough. Even he had a cap on how far he'll take a prank. His friend of three weeks didn't seem to have one, always encouraging him to take things a little bit too far. Like the other day when he had told him about Kiba calling him a failure, his friend told him to kidnap his dog and hold him for ransom until Kiba agreed to become his bitch and declared him the best ninja ever. Naruto had take a small step back at that, appalled at the violence his friend suggested to him. Naruto now tended to tune his friend out when he started drawing out revenge schemes a little bit too much.

"Nah, that's a little bit too much for nothing. He only didn't let me into his store. Its not like he beat me or anything..." Naruto watched his friend stroll over to a small patch of flowers growing into the ground a little ways to the right where they were standing on the dirt path. Naruto watched him move his hands down to the flowers and wrap them in a tight grip, yanking them out from their spot in the ground.

He threw them to the ground soon after, his dark red eyes boring down into the crushed flowers, "Yeah, well, negligence is still as bad as physical beatings, Naruto. Its something I've been telling you for weeks now." Naruto nodded, remembering the few times the dark blonde boy in front of him had told him that any kind of action that made him feel like an outcast was all the same regardless of the lasting effects that it had on his body or emotions. A small piece of Naruto could agree, while most of him thought he was just being overly dramatic. "These people are all idiots..." he randomly threw out as he looked back to Naruto. "Blind as goddamn bats." He gestured to the marks on Naruto's clothes, a wave of groans surfacing from the other blonde boy.

"Who cares what they think? I know I did the right thing..."

His friend scoffed slightly, "So? The least these idiots can do is give you recognition for what you did. The only ones that even bring it up are the Old Man and Iruka. No one else bats a freakin' eyelid about it because it was the demon who did it. It could've been anyone else and that person would get a medal and the hero treatment for what happened." He gave Naruto a knowing look. "You can't tell me that doesn't bother you at all?"

Naruto didn't answer. He was right. A part of him was mad that no one gave him credit for what he did. He went in and risked his neck to do the right thing, almost got burned alive, and for what? A scolding and a verbal beatdown by everyone in the street. What the hell would he have to do to be seen as something other than annoying and a brat? Apparently he would have to do a lot more than what he did a few weeks ago. He sighed. He'll figure it out. He wouldn't give up just yet, no matter how much his friend tried to make him see something he didn't want to; whatever it was.

Naruto looked him in the eyes, despite the slight uncomfortable feeling he got when looking at them. "I know I did the right thing. Regardless if these idiots see it or not, I know the actions I pulled that day were the right ones. Even if no one ever brings it back up again, I can sleep easier at night then I would've if I wouldn't have done anything." Naruto watched his friend smirk slowly, a low ominous chuckle passing his lips as he nodded and waved his finger at Naruto.

"I admire that about you, Naruto. No matter what happens, you get right back up and dust yourself off. Not many folks can do that." He closed the distance between them and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You're one of a kind, Uzumaki. One of a kind."

Naruto grinned, appreciating the words of positivity coming from his friend. It was such a refreshing feeling to hear words like that come from someone that wasn't the Old Man or Iruka. He had thought he would never hear anything like that from anyone else, but after his little act; he had met this boy in front of him by the swing he always swung alone on. He was the only one his age that bothered with him and was also an orphan with unnamed parents. They understood one another, which acted as the starting ground for their friendship to be built on. Naruto appreciated the boy's friendship more than he probably knew.

"Thanks, Menma." He thanked with a grin.

He grinned back, albeit a little more sinisterly. "Don't sweat it, Uzumaki." The two had started walking after that, just heading off in some random direction, not noticing the pair of eyes that were watching them.

The ANBU scratched the insides of his ear, trying to clean out the mucus he felt was in there. 'Either I'm going deaf or was Naruto just talking to someone?' Dog had been assigned by the Hokage after Naruto's little action show three weeks ago to keep an eye on him to make sure he was doing okay. Throughout the weeks, Dog had seen Naruto act and speak as if someone was next to him, but always dismissed it since there was always another person within the proximity. He had thought Naruto was using his act as a conversation starter to others and that they were just ignoring him. This was the first time in three weeks that he started talking and no one else was around.

Dog knew for sure he could still see fine even with only one eye uncovered... And he could clearly see that Naruto was talking to himself.

Dog frowned beneath his mask. 'Could he be talking to IT?' He wondered. It didn't make sense though. His seal shouldn't be weakening this early, if ever. The Fourth used a powerful seal to put the Kyuubi in Naruto. If his seal were to weaken, it would be when Naruto was a little older than ten. His seal should still be in good shape, if not near perfect.

'I gotta report this to the Hokage. Maybe he can make some sense out of this.' Dog poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

End of Chapter 1 of Sage Naruto

The two ideas I had were:

-Dark Naruto being by Naruto's side growing up.

-Naruto learning Senjutsu at a younger age.

That second one will kick off next chapter when Jiraiya comes on back to the village earlier than intended to. You'll find out next time why.

You will also get flashbacks of what happened to Naruto as we go along the story. Gotta keep some mystery on what happened.

How did Dark Naruto, or Menma here since writing Dark Naruto will get annoying after awhile, reveal himself to Naruto and why? You'll find out.

Next Time: Chapter 2


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